Wolverine247 Board

Why do people think Michigan and Ohio in the same division is a good idea?

It isn't. In any way, shape, or form.

I've seen fans of both teams frequently mention that a potential rematch would diminish the value of The Game. That's a tired notion based on nostalgia that fails to take into the account how much the landscape of college football has changed.

If anything, I think turning The Game into a mere spot-clincher for the B1G Championship game is demeaning/disrespectful.

The two most dominant Big Ten teams should be rewarded for their historic value. A potential rematch every year adds to that history.

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet but the addition of Maryland + Rutgers suggests that we're going to a 9 game conference schedule.

I am so torn about this Michigan-osu thing. I do think there is something to be said for Michigan and osu playing in the B1G Championship for the right to go to the Rose Bowl. But at the same time, I'd be so pissed if we went into Columbus, beat them, and then later lost to them in the B1G championship. At the same time, beating them twice in a season would be a great feeling.

At this point, I'm leaning more towards keeping it at the end of the season and putting them in the same division. Let's be honest, the winner of The Game is going to win the B1G anyways at that point, so only playing once should be just fine.

As far as the addition of Illinois to the Legends division. They've been a cluster for the better part of 15 years. They had that random Rose Bowl sprinkled in, but I think that's the exception and not the norm. It's another win every season.

Since they are scheduled to play each other every year, there is no difference on that matter.

And since Michigan will play Ohio every year, while they will play everybody else once every six years, the current divisional setup may make it more likely the best two teams don't meet in the conference championship. Michigan and OSU are going to have the toughest conference schedules every year.

Delany just said in a Q&A that the ADs would be getting together to discuss divisions. Sounds like this is fluid, especially if we end up going to 16. I also agree with the poster above that this means we are almost certainly moving to 9 conference games.

Yep....probably makes sense to split these two and give every team in the league consistent exposure on the atlantic coast. Also, I see the conference going to 16 teams, now expanding our footprint towards the south in SEC country

And that is exactly why expansion sucks.

Ehh, I don't really care about the unfairness part of that. That's just part of how it works. UM/Neb/PSU/OSU will have it harder (assuming PSU recovers), but it's best for the conference to have its marquee teams play. Will it be more difficult? Obviously. But the competition is more fun IMO and it just gives those teams more games to prove themselves against top competition. I guess it's tough for me to complain about more difficult scheduling after seeing how many cupcakes everyone plays nowadays. If it turns out that one year it screws a team out of a title shot, oh well. As long as you beat the teams in your division, there's almost no shot of being shut out of the title game unless you poop the bed outside the division and lose two or more times.